Past Loves and Second Chances
by RainMirror
Summary: Emma has recently discovered that Henry's father and Rumpelstiltskin's long lost son are one and the same. While she stubbornly continues to think that it's all just one big coincidence, Mr. Gold decides to tell her the tale of Bae's first love, Morraine, and the startling connection she has to Emma! Let me know what you think!


**Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time. This is for my own twisted amusement. **

Past Loves and Second Chances

Emma sat in her usual booth at Granny's Diner, sipping hot cocoa drenched in whipped cream and topped with a generous sprinkling of cinnamon. She tries to make time just for this out of her increasingly busy days; to sit, relax and organize her thoughts. Today it just wasn't having its usual effects.

"Sheriff Swan?" asked a low voice to her left, shaking her out of her thoughts. "May I join you?"

Emma sighed heavily, running a hand through her blonde curls. Great. Just what she needed. "Go ahead, Gold. We both know you always get your way… _eventually_."

The smile on Gold's face was a mixture of both amusement and superiority. "Still a wee bit upset, are we? You know I was just as surprised as you, which is saying something."

"Yeah, well I thought you could see the future," she scoffed derisively. "Are you seriously telling me you never saw this coming?"

Rumpelstiltskin shrugged carelessly and gestured with his hands. "I'm sure it will shock to you hear, my dear, but it turns out I'm not perfect." He smiled as Emma choked on her cocoa, trying to stifle a laugh. His expression turned somber as he added, "I never saw Belle being locked away almost 30 years either. Perhaps I can't clearly see when it comes to those that mean the most to me."

Emma shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Yeah, but still…you knew I would be the Savior, you knew I would have a child….you _really_ never saw who the father would be?"

"I never bothered to look too closely. After all, why would I care about the identity of some boy who impregnates you as a teenager? Do you realize there are over 7 billion people in this world? I never for a moment thought that…."

"That it would be _your_ son to knock me up?" she finished for him. "That's quite a coincidence."

"I don't believe in coincidences. I believe everything happens for a reason."

"Listen, Gold, if you're going to try to convince me that Bae is my 'True Love' then I'm gonna stop you right there. I barely knew him then and I tolerate his presence right now only because Henry is so happy to have a father. He's been here a week. I'm not about to jump in his arms and suggest we get married, no matter how much our _parents_ keep hinting."

"I've suggested no such thing. Belle and I firmly believe that marriages should only be decided by the couple involved and no one else." He looked at her pointedly. "Everyone else can mind their own business."

Emma took another sip to avoid looking at him. She remembered all too well that she had been very vocal against sweet, innocent Belle marrying the shifty pawnbroker/sorcerer. "Well, I'm sure it will shock you, Gold, to hear that everyone makes mistakes. Even me. You two make a great pair."

"Thank you. But I'm not here to discuss my love life. I'm here to discuss Bae's."

"Gold, I told you…"

"Let me finish, Miss Swan. I want to tell you a story, a story 600 years in the making; one that I have yet to tell Bae, in fact. It's about the fate of his first love, a young girl named Morraine."

"_Morraine_? Seriously? Why can't anyone from your century have regular names?"

"You mean like _Snow_ or _Pinnochio_?"

"Better than _Rumpelstiltskin_."

"Emma?"

"Yeah, Gold?"

"Shut up."

The sheriff laughed openly this time and gestured for him to continue. She couldn't tell if he was pleased or annoyed by her. Dealing with him was never dull, that's for sure!

Mr. Gold smiled fondly as he searched his memory. "She was a charming little thing; light brown hair, green eyes, sweet smile. Her family moved into the farm next to ours when she and Bae were about ten. They took to each other like flies and honey. When they weren't doing chores they could always be found together, trying to teach each other to read or learn simple arithmetic. There were no schools in our village. Children needed to work just as hard as adults in order to survive. There was always the threat of drought, famine, and of course, war. It was a difficult time for everyone, but especially for the children."

"And I thought _I_ had it bad growing up in the system. Sounds like a rough life."

"Indeed. I did the best I could, but I was a widower with a lame leg and there was only so much I could do. Bae had to pick up the slack and for that I'll always be sorry. At least he had Morraine. She never judged him for my faults. She was very kind when others would be cruel."

"Let me guess. You were never much of a people-person, even back then. Am I right?"

"Let's just say that a child should never have to pay for the sins of the father," he replied quietly.

Emma could tell there was more to the story than Gold was telling. She had already guessed he had once been very poor; why else would he overcompensate with his expensive suits and surround himself with _things_? But she wondered what he had done to make his village dislike him.

He cleared his throat loudly and continued his tale. "Anyway, they became very close. I remember Bae constantly reminding me that one of our fences needed mending. I would wink at him and say 'why spend the coins fixing it when we'll be tearing it down in a few years?' Should they marry, we would combine the farms into one to make it more prosperous for them. But I would never arrange for them to marry against their wishes. We were poor, but he could afford to marry for love."

"So what happened?"

As he sipped his tea, Emma could see his hands shake slightly. "War," he whispered.

"Was the village attacked?" asked Emma, gripping her cocoa for warmth.

"No. When the war began, every able bodied man was conscripted. After the first year, they started taking the women. A few years later the minimum fighting age was lowered from 18 to 17, then to 16, and so on. They came for Morraine the day she turned fourteen."

Even though she hadn't eaten in hours, Emma felt her lunch recoil in her stomach. Fourteen? She couldn't imagine Henry being given a weapon and forced into war at that age. At any age!

"I watched, powerlessly, as they dragged her from her house. The Duke's knights took a perverse pleasure in stealing the children away from us and always made quite the show of it. Seeing this sweet little girl being torn from her parents…" Gold closed his eyes and sighed. "Bae's fourteenth birthday was only three days away. I had to do something."

"Am I finally about to hear how you became the Dark One?" Emma asked, not sure if she really wanted to know the details.

Gold surveyed the diner. The dinner rush hadn't yet begun but it was considerably more crowded than it had been when he began his tale.

"If you don't mind, I think I'll skip over that part. Can't have everyone want to become like me now, can we?"

"So you got your powers to save your son from war. I can appreciate that. What happened next?"

"I went out to the battlefield and made a truce with the ogres, ending the war fifteen years after it began. I brought the children home."

"And Morraine?"

"She wasn't on the battlefield. I searched for days, looked at countless dead bodies. The thought of returning without her made me sick. I gave Bae my word that I would bring her home. So I kept looking. I finally found her… at the Duke's camp."

"What?" Blood drained from Emma's face and bile rose in her throat. She felt like she had been doused in ice water. She was always good at reading between the lines.

Gold looked pained as he tried to continue his tale without having to say the words. "She was…very lovely. The Duke took a particular interest in her." Emma reached across the table and gripped his hand. When he opened his eyes, they were cold and empty.

"I enjoyed killing him. Very much."

Emma didn't doubt it. She had seen the fierceness with which he beat Moe French last year. She knew what he was capable of when provoked.

"And Bae doesn't know?"

"No," he replied firmly. "And I don't want him to. I don't want his memory of her sullied by this."

"Why are you telling me this?" she asked, wiping the moisture that suddenly appeared in her eyes. "Why did you think I needed to know this?"

"Because she died giving birth, nine months later."

"Oh no!"

"Bae was gone by then, lost in this world. He was gone before she ever started to show signs of the pregnancy. I was too absorbed in my own grief to notice anything or anyone by then." He looked out the window - at the town, at his own reflection, at his memories, Emma couldn't tell which. "I disappeared for a while. My memory is quite hazy but I do believe those months included a fair amount of alcohol. When I finally returned it was just to collect Bae's things and my spinning wheel. I never wanted to come back. That's when I saw Morraine's grave."

"And the baby?"

"A boy. She was too young to handle the birth. I remember looking at this baby, Morraine's beautiful baby boy with her green eyes, and couldn't help but feel cheated. This should have been _my_ grandson in a few years' time. She and Bae should have had a lifetime together and now they were both lost."

His hands were clearly shaking now in his grief. She took his hands in hers once more to give him strength. She had never seen him look so vulnerable.

"I felt it was my duty to help him. I gave her parents my farm and all the money I had. They were proud people but I think they were too frightened to refuse my gift. Like you said, I'm not much of a people-person."

Emma snickered despite her heartache. "I'm sure you made a difference in his life. That was generous of you. "

"Not just _his_ life," he added sheepishly. "I decided to keep an eye on him and later on his son. Once a generation I'd hop on by and check how things were going. I would help when I could; for a price, of course. I couldn't let them think they were getting special treatment. Most were honest, hardworking peasants who just needed a break and I think it helped my soul to aid them when I could. I guess you could call me the family's benefactor."

He raised his head and looked directly into Emma's eyes. "I still am today."

"What are you saying, Gold?" she asked, feeling a growing unease.

"I'm saying that I helped every descendent in that family over the last 600 years, starting with saving Morraine from the Duke. Each generation had only one child. Always a boy, every time. That is until one particularly poor man sired twin boys."

Emma's heart began racing in her chest as realization dawned on her. This story was starting to sound achingly familiar.

"My father and uncle?" she whispered.

"Yes. You, Emma, are the first girl to be born in that family in over 600 years. You are the first girl to be born to that bloodline since Morraine herself. I find it hard to believe that it was simply a coincidence that you and Bae managed to find each other in this world and produce the boy that was destined to help break the curse." Gold hesitantly smiled and added, "It looks like I finally got that grandson after all."

The diner was bursting with activity now that the supper rush had begun. Emma paid no attention as she continued to hold Rumpelstiltskin's hands and absorb this new information.

"Are we interrupting something?" asked a lilting voice.

They jerked apart and looked up at Belle, carrying a heavy wicker basket with one arm and a sleeping bundle wrapped protectively in the other.

"Not at all, love," said Gold, rising to place a lingering kiss on her cheek and picked up his beloved daughter, Elena. "We were just having a friendly chat about kids."

"Speaking of which," Belle said as she squeezed into the booth, placing the basket on the table, "the boys are on their way. I saw them leaving the arcade, thick as thieves."

"I've got to ask," said Emma, wanting to change the subject. "Isn't it weird to have a step-son the same age as you?"

Belle blushed and looked fondly at her husband. "A bit, yes. I had sincerely hoped for his sake we would find him just arriving in this land, still fourteen years old. I would have loved to have been his mother. However, that would mean Henry would never have been born, so I don't feel too badly now."

Emma could clearly see the love and affection emanating from the couple as Rumpelstiltskin placed his free arm around her shoulders and wondered, not for the first time, how she had ever objected to their union. They were obviously soul mates. Could she ever feel that way about someone? Could she someday feel that way about Bae?

"Hey, Mom!" called Henry breathlessly from the door, dragging his father, to their table.

"Hey yourself, kid. Hello Bae."

"Emma," said Baelfire, affectionately running his hand through his son's hair. She could see a remarkable resemblance between them, now that they were standing side by side.

Henry reached over to kiss the sleeping baby on the forehead. "Hey, Aunt Elena," he whispered.

"Have you had supper yet, Henry?" asked Emma checking her watch. She was still getting used to whole 'mom' thing.

"Don't worry, I've taken care of that!" said Belle, smiling mischievously at the young boy. "Your picnic basket, sir."

"Thanks, _Grandma_," he teased.

The expression on Belle's face was enough to make everyone laugh loudly. Poor Elena's eyes opened wide at the sudden noise.

"I'm so sorry, Belle," snickered Bae. "I put him up to it. I couldn't resist."

"Hmmm. I'm starting to think you're going to be trouble, _son_. Maybe you should be sent to your room without the lovely supper I prepared for you."

"What supper would that be?" he asked, looking at his boy.

"Belle put together a picnic for us. You'll come too, right Mom?"

"Oh, I don't know. This is your day together. I don't want to intrude."

"Nonsense, Emma," interrupted Belle. "There's more than enough. Bae, you just have to pick up the pumpkin pie I ordered. Ruby should have it ready for you."

"What do you say, Mom? Please! We can all be together, like a _real_ family." Bae grinned at his son's puppy dog eyes and crossed the room to see Ruby.

Emma narrowed her eyes suspiciously at the Golds. "Are you two coming?"

"Can't," said Mr. Gold quickly. "Deals to make."

"Diapers to change," added Belle.

"I just remembered!" cried Henry. "I have a book report to finish. I guess it'll be just you and Dad."

The three traitors quickly got up from the table and started to make their way to the door.

"Whoa!" she cried, grabbing Gold's upper arm, forcing him to turn around. "I thought you said you wouldn't push us together!"

Rumpelstiltskin smirked impishly. "I'm afraid you didn't listen too closely, dearie. I said we would never push you to _marriage_. I said nothing about courtship." He looked across the room at his long lost son and his smile softened. "Remember, there is no such thing as coincidences. You have a pleasant dinner."

Emma stood in the middle of the diner, staring at the retreating figures in awe and disbelief.

"Where did everybody go?" asked her ex-boyfriend and father to her child.

"It seems they all had pressing matters to attend to."

"That's too bad," he said, far too innocently to be convincing. "Well, we shouldn't let this delicious picnic go to waste. It looks like Belle put in lot of effort for us."

"Yeah," she replied, grinning to herself. "She's not the only one. Lead the way."


End file.
